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Vol. XXVII No. 10, September 1-15, 2017

Discovering heritage on the OMR with OMG

The ‘OMR is now OMG’ bus

To most people, OMR, or Rajiv Gandhi Expressway, is nothing more than a road that has several IT giants and many glass-fronted offices lining it. It is also known for its endless traffic signals, some of which necessitate halts of as long as ten to fifteen minutes. What is forgotten is that the OMR area is also a historic stretch. At one end it has Mahabalipuram, the Pallava port with numerous rock carvings and shrines. En route are historic villages such as Tirukazhugukundram, Tiruporur, Velachery and Semmenchery with age-old shrines. There are, besides, several historic educational and technical institutions of Chennai located here, all of which combined to make the OMR an intellectual capital region long before IT set foot there. Indeed, it was this educational base that in many ways facilitated the setting up of the IT industry here.

To highlight all of this, Doshi Housing, a construction company with a residential project in the area, has embarked on a novel exercise. It has sponsored what it refers to as the OMR OMG Shuttle Service, which runs for free four times a day between Madhya Kailash and the Aavin Milk Cooperative at Sholinganallur. The luxury bus comes with an audio-visual presentation on the history and heritage of OMR, conceptualised by Sriram V, Associate Editor, Madras Musings. All passengers are also given a booklet that summarises the history covered. The first run on each day is at 9.30 am from Madhya Kailash. The service, which began on August 24th, will be on for a month.

Doshi Housing is also willing to take groups, and the contact number is 88079 88079. Email: marketing@doshihousing. com.